Wednesday, 8 June 2016

Let´s talk about- Gel Nails / Permanent Nail Art

It was my engagement, I thought I’d put in a bit more effort to look my best. So, I decided to go for some arty nails, I went to a nail art salon just near my place to get it done.

Since I have never done anything like this before (both nail art and gel nails, in fact I have never grown my nails properly) lol!! but I decided to give it a go this time. I was so satisfied and happy with them that I thanked the guy (who did the nail art) like 100 times;)

My gel nails!

But the sad part was that they did not tell me any of the disadvantages, until I found out myself!

Firstly, I want to start this post by saying I personally haven´t conducted any scientific research on this subject. I´ve simply tried to examine the facts and help you know about it in details on what I´ve found.

Here, I go-

What are the benefits?

Last a lot longer- Soak-off Gel lasts from 2-3 weeks with no chipping.

Dry instantly- The UV light dries the polish within minutes which means no wait, no smudging, no dents.

Easy to design absolutely anything- You can create some fabulous nail designs.

Works on natural nails- It works well on short nails too while you can add extensions to it.

You can layer polish on top– If you want to change your color mid-manicure, you can. Paint right over Soak-Off Gel with regular nail polish and remove it with non-acetone remover... whooaaaa!!

No filing required- No need to file nails for three weeks or more...yay!!

What are the negatives?

High cost – Permanent nail art service is more costly than a traditional manicure as it can only be applied by a professional.

Nail growth shows – If you choose a dark, solid color, by week two, growth will be very apparent. But if you opt for a transparent one like mine you can free yourself from this.

Time – Getting a permanent nail art manicure can take much longer than a traditional one. Especially if you are using a dark color. In the case of dark colors, I’ve heard you need quite a few coats to get it the right color.

Removal– Removing is kind of difficult as you need to visit the salon again for removing it in the mid way.

Weak nail beds- The scraping from the nails tends to weaken the nail beds, which can lead to breakage (which is apparently more painful):(

So to avoid it we need to follow some precautions (listed below).

What precautions needs to be taken?

In this procedure, nails are actually dead to begin with, so they don't need to breathe!

Thus, we need to be little careful and easy on them during this phase -

Base coat- Always apply a base coat before a nail paint on them.

Avoid stains- If you are into kitchen work and more likely to have stains like turmeric, etc (especially for Indian girlies, like me) , clean it with a non- acetone remover first and then with water otherwise chances are that stains also becomes permanent like the art!! :)

During pregnancy- It is safe to wear gel nails while you are pregnant, as long as you take precautions when having them applied and removed as the gel contains some chemicals which can cause allergies.

Nail art is a big topic to discuss but I guess this much information is enough for any girl to decide on it.